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Monday, July 20, 2015

I'm taking you back in time a bit,to the end of June. We had been staying on a fellow Roadtreker's property in the Annapolis Valley and he thought we might be able to find a boondocking spot with an ocean view down in Port George. So after our first night on his property we set out the next day in search of the little town park to see if we could do some stealth camping !

Well, Paul never told us how sweet and lovely the village of Port George was. As we came down off the hill and out of the curve we discovered this little seaside village and immediately became enamored with it.

Everyone on this road either lives on the water or has a spectacular view of the water-what a place to live.

Not only do you have the ocean in your back yard but you have this gurgling brook going by your house-just lovely.

We thought this was the village church and I guess at one point it was but it had been converted into a house. What we learned later in the day was that the owner had been recently killed in a motorcycle accident and the church was up for sale. Everyone we spoke with was saddened by his unexpected death.

We passed this sign while in search of the town park. We did find the town park, unfortunately we weren't going to be able to stealth camp there. The Paysons , who apparently own half the valley,were having an employee appreciation celebration at the park and the place was filled with their employees and families. Okay, time to go to plan B, back to boondocking at Paul's place ! I remembered seeing the sign about hot dogs and I told Jim let's go check out the Old Barn and get something for lunch.

I expected a little cafe inside a barn or something like that. What we found was a family trying to add a few dollars to their income by selling hot dogs at their old barn. We thought they looked friendly so we stopped. It was one of the most fun and interesting stops we've made on this trip.
We met Wayne the owner of the property, Delayne (hope I'm spelling it right) his wife and Dallas their nephew who was staying with them for the time being. Oh and yes, the absolutely handsome, Dawson, the Belgian horse.

Wayne has trained Dawson for 13 years and he is the sweetest, most gentle giant I have ever encountered. He just wanted to love on all of us, including Hailey-she was having nothing to do with this very large horse. Wayne's property is adjacent to the town cemetery and he said on several occasions Dawson will be standing by the fence to the cemetery and his ears will perk straight up and he will turn and run like crazy into the barn. Other times, he will come charging out of the barn right up to the fence of the cemetery, come to a grinding stop and just stare. Don't you wonder what he sees that Wayne hasn't.

Delayne told us that Dallas had woken up the other morning and said please tell me you were in my room earlier this morning fussing over me-no she wasn't. So when Wayne offered us a boondocking spot right below the barn,uh no, we passed on it. We didn't need any more excitement than what we had been experiencing on this trip already.

What a wonderful family this is. We spent much longer talking than we had planned out,but we felt like family when we left. And yes, the hot dogs were delicious. This will always be a lesson to me to expect the unexpected and always take the road less traveled and be willing to open yourself up to new experiences.

Monday, July 6, 2015

When we headed to the Maritimes I had a little idea of what to expect from Nova Scotia, but goodness gracious me, my expectations have been blown out of the water. I love this province-but I especially love the coast and the sweet, lovely fishing villages. I dream of them now and they have taken over a huge space in my heart.

Our first lovely surprise was the King Neptune Campground in Indian Harbor-the owners are so incredible. Warm welcoming,and funny-Kay is 92 years old and has owned this place since 1959. She will keep you laughing all day long. We were so blessed to get space #57, it's a tent site, but we didn't mind trading the convenience of electric for the front row seat to the ocean !

Plenty of breathing space in the campground-just perfect

We didn't need anything to do while we were here. Watching the tides, the sunrise, the sunset, the waves crashing-we have simple lives and it's those things that bring the greatest joy to us.

No matter which way we looked we had the best views. Everywhere we looked was just beautiful.

We left the campground early in the morning to head to Peggy's Cove. I had set the alarm to get us up before the 530 am sunrise, unfortunately my cell phone alarm was still on Eastern instead of Atlantic time and it woke us at 600 instead of 500am. But with the Roadtrek taking off is easy and since we were in a tent site we had no unhooking to do. Just a quick closing of the fan vent window and turning off the propane and we hit the road. This was my first view of the infamous lighthouse at Peggy's Cove.

And this was the little greeter that followed me down the path to the Swiss Air Memorial-I hadn't run across any information on this when researching our trip. It was a quiet spiritual place.

My driver, aka sweetie pie, spotted these on the side of the road in a little bog area-I thought they looked like little fairy umbrellas in the dew.

Even the church in Peggy's Cove is pretty and colorful

I couldn't believe the harbor, it was so picture perfect. And Lobster Road was a gravel road that ran along side of it-I took advantage of walking that road and climbing the rocks to get some shots. I really lucked out, no one else was here when we arrived and things were pretty quiet and peaceful.

I was very lucky with the lighthouse-no one was around ! When we were at Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy I would have to wait a very long time to try and get a shot of the rocks without people and it was almost impossible. But here, arriving before 800am, no one but us and the seagulls.

The rocks all around the lighthouse are incredible and very dangerous-so if you go, be very careful

After we left Peggy's Cove I wanted to follow the routes that hugged the coast en route to Lunenburg and we did. We saw so much jaw dropping gorgeous scenery, it was like being in another world. This planet never ceases to amaze me with her beauty. This little spot had a sandy beach and a view out to some small islands. We stopped to let Hailey run free and play in the water-she loved it.

What a perfect little hideaway to live in, one can dream.

This was Chester,Nova Scotia. A while back I had read an article by a Canadian environmentalist who had settled in this area. His description barely did it justice. Chester is exactly the kind of little village you imagine when you think of those quaint, lovely villages along the coast. A small downtown area was lined with wonderful little gift shops and cafes. And everyone was around the waterfront-the center of activity for this town-for both residents and tourists it seemed.

I love to imagine the people who garden and tend their sweet beautiful little cottages and I dream of what it would be like to live there...lots of dreaming on this trip.

Next stop, Mahone Bay-everything and a lot more than I expected when I read about it. The 3 churches along the shoreline caught my eye first and I made Jim turnaround to go down the road that was across the bay from the churches. Not an easy feat in a Roadtrek on small village roads !

Every place I looked was a spot to sit and daydream

And this was the ultimate-who wouldn't want a tiny house on the water-I'm so jealous

This town had so many stunning homes and interesting architecture, I didn't know where to look. And the paint combinations-I love people who think outside the box and look like they dumped all their crayons out on the floor to decide what color to paint their house or business.

Flowers everywhere

The name of this place is "Seaclusion", clever !

The giant town garage sale was in full swing when we arrived and it was all I could do to keep my purse in check. Plus I kept thinking how could I fit that set of beautiful old chairs in Ruby; or could I keep that gorgeous old crystal from breaking over the next 6 months packed in Ruby !

In a shop window , Mahone Bay

Most times I feel like we are in a dream world. I've said it thousands of times but we are really so blessed and we are so grateful for this life. Don't get me wrong, it's not all flowers and pretty places, after all, two of us are living 24 hours 7 days a week in about 50 square feet. And even though I have known this man for 45 wonderful years-my patience and his, does get tried every once in a while. But it's days like this that make us overlook those times. These are the days we remember and talk about and hold close. These are the times we include in our evening grace and I wish you all many moments like these.

Happy Trails, Safe Travels, be kind and sweet to each other and hold those lovely memories in your hearts.